TEST SERIES 2011

Mumbai: Former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson feels Sachin Tendulkar has got the right to decide when to quit oneday cricket, but says he should not wait too long, as otherwise, the criticism will grow.
"In Tests (in Australia), I thought he played the second best after (Virat) Kohli, who probably...

MS Dhoni should stay on as Test captain, conditional to his response to the critical questions that confront him as leader.
The first among those is what his vision is for India to regain legitimacy as a competitive Test playing country overseas especially in England, Australia and South Africa....

Chennai: Former Queensland fast bowler and Australian domestic bowling guru Joe Dawes will take over as India's bowling coach following the conclusion of the CB Series, the Indian board (BCCI) has confirmed.
In a decision taking at the BCCI's Working Committee meeting in Chennai on Monday, it was decided that...

Melbourne: Veteran Australia pacer Brett Lee believes India have lost the mental edge this summer and his team can take full advantage of the tourists' slump by preventing them from getting on board in any format.
India were blanked 04 in Tests and also lost the first of the two Twenty20s...

Lohardaga, Jharkhand: Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has backed India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying he is suitable for Test captaincy and there is no need for a change in leadership right now.
"Dhoni is a good player and worthy of captaincy. The time has not come for a change in the...

Two days ago that's Saturday for those keeping score Rahul Dravid told an Australian news channel that he had not made a decision on whether to retire or not. This came after widespread reports in the media about Dravid's imminent retirement following India's crushing defeat in Adelaide, which...

Sydney: Australia captain Michael Clarke feels a "teamfirst orientation of sustained pressure and sacrifice" led to his side's thumping triumph over India in the justconcluded Test series.
Australia whitewashed India 40 with just one Test going the full distance of five days, and Clarke said the performance was a result of...

Melbourne: Australia's woefully outofform wicketkeeper Brad Haddin could be replaced by Matthew Wade behind the stumps in the first three onedayers of the triseries against India and Sri Lanka, starting on February 5.
Haddin, who has retired from Twenty20 cricket, was criticised for a belowpar show in the Test series against...

Jalandhar: Feisty offspinner Harbhajan Singh has backed the vanquished Indian cricket team to bounce back strongly from the Test whitewash in Australia, saying that there is "nothing to worry" as such a setback can happen to any side in the world.
"It happens in some series but there is nothing to...

Adelaide: A survey has revealed that a large number of Australian cricketers believe that spotfixing still remains a problem in international cricket, but they are sure that their domestic game is clean.
The survey was conducted by Inside Cricket magazine in conjunction with the Australian Cricketers' Association. Out of 110 cricketers...

New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that the "manner of defeat" in England and Australia was more disappointing than the 08 scoreline.
India were humbled by 298 runs in the fourth and final Test in Adelaide on Saturday, losing their eighth consecutive match on foreign soil. They were whitewashed...

Adelaide: Australia are on their way back to the top after hammering India 40, skipper Michael Clarke proclaimed, just 12 months after their devastating Ashes series loss to England.
The resurgent Australians thumped India by 298 runs early on the fifth day of the fourth Test in Adelaide on Saturday to...

New Delhi: Stunned by India's Test slump abroad after the 40 rout in the series against Australia, former stalwarts blamed the starstudded batting lineup, reacting to the debacle by saying heads should roll following a second successive overseas whitewash.
India were humbled by 298 runs in the fourth and final Test...

Mumbai: Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth, who is recovering from a toe injury, is unsure if he will be fit in time to participate in the fifth Indian Premier League, to be held from April 4.
"I don't know (if I will be fit for the IPL). Maybe, maybe not. I...

Adelaide: Former captain Sourav Ganguly feels that the onfield verbal exchange between Virat Kohli and Ben Hilfenhaus in the ongoing fourth and final Test between India and Australia is part and parcel of international cricket and signifies "competitive spirit."
Young India batsman Kohli, who notched up his maiden Test hundred on...

New Delhi: With India staring at their second consecutive overseas series whitewash, the BCCI expressed concern at the lacklusture performance of the Indian team in Australia and said corrective measures will be taken after the series.
"Our players have not been able to perform overseas in the last two series, and...

Melbourne: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is likely to sue an Indian software firm for using his face in a mobile phone application without permission.
Ponting, who scored a brilliant 221 in the ongoing fourth and final Test against India in Adelaide, was not aware that the app was using his...

Adelaide: Offspinner Nathan Lyon has been included at the expense of fast bowler Mitchell Starc in Australia's lineup for the fourth Test against India starting on Tuesday.
Starc was one of a quartet of quicks selected for the third Test in Perth, where the Australians won by an innings and 37...

Melbourne: Veteran pacer Brett Lee has warned Cricket Australia against the temptation to "baby" the nation's fast bowlers with a rotation system that was designed to protect them from injury, saying the selectors' job was to pick the best players to spearhead the Test attack.
"I'm here or there with the...

Adelaide: Australia captain Michael Clarke stated that his team would not be satisfied with anything less than a 40 whitewash in the ongoing Test series against India.
Having already pocketed the series 30, the two teams will play the final Test match at the Adelaide Oval from January 24 onwards.
"We are...

Adelaide: Former Australian batsman Dean Jones says for India to regain the numero uno status in world cricket, they will have to find a "great core of fast bowlers and batsmen" who specialise in all three formats of the game.
"This Indian team craves respect, but the way India are going...

Adelaide: India's outofform middleorder batsman VVS Laxman preferred to hit the nets immediately after landing in Adelaide on Thursday while some of his teammates and their wives went shopping ahead of the fourth and the final Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval starting on Tuesday.
The India team landed in...

New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that the playing conditions in Sydney and Perth in the ongoing Test series between India and Australia exposed the "physical inadequacies of an ageing cricketer."
"The conditions at Perth and Sydney exposed the physical inadequacies of an ageing cricketer. Hot and humid conditions...

Perth: The only struggling Australian bowler against a clueless Indian batting lineup, offspinner Nathan Lyon is taking tips from spin legend Shane Warne to plot the downfall of Virender Sehwag and his men in the fourth and final Test in Adelaide starting on January 24.
Lyon, 24, will use a private...

Colombo: Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has sought a report from the country's cricket board into the recent debacle of national team against South Africa.
The Sports Minister on Tuesday ordered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Upali Dharmadasa to submit the report on the issues plaguing the national team within...

Perth: Impressive paceman Peter Siddle may be rested for the fourth and final Test against India at Adelaide as per Cricket Australia's rotation policy, a media report speculated on Tuesday.
Since the Adelaide pitch is likely to assist spinners, Nathan Lyon is expected to come back into the side, with young...

Perth: Australia coach Mickey Arthur considers the ongoing fourmatch Test series against India as a stepping stone for regaining the Ashes next year, which he says remains the team's ultimate goal.
"Winning back the Ashes is at the forefront of everybody's mind. I'd be lying if I didn't say that we...